Universal, Sony Form Nordic Home Entertainment Joint Venture

The joint group will distribute titles from both studios across Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland and support their digital businesses in the region.

COLOGNE, Germany – Universal Pictures International Entertainment and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment have signed a deal that will see the two studios team up for home entertainment distribution in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland.

A new joint venture, Universal Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Nordic, will handle home entertainment distribution of titles from both studios in the region, as well as supporting Sony and Universal's digital business in the territories.

The venture will launch with movies including the Tom Cruise starrer Oblivion and Seth MacFarlane's Ted and TV shows including cartoon show Transformers: Prime volumes three to five.

Matt Brown, evp of Worldwide Commercial at Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and Universal Pictures International Entertainment President Eddie Cunningham announced the new joint venture on Monday. Universal and Sony's existing Nordic home entertainment operations will be absorbed into the new company, which will kick off in August.

Jonas Wahlander, currently a managing director and commercial manager of Sony Pictures Entertainment's Nordic operations, will run the joint venture as managing director, overseeing the marketing, selling, supply and distribution of both studios' releases on DVD and Blu-ray in the region.

Sony and Universal said the new joint venture will not change the studios' existing theatrical, TV or digital distribution businesses in the region.

The move to merge DVD and Blu-ray distribution in the Nordics follows a similar home entertainment joint venture between Sony and Universal in Australia two years ago.